May 16, 2004
The No. 22 Texas A&M softball team received an at-large selection, on Sunday, to play in one of eight NCAA Regionals. The Aggies will head to Athens, Ga., as the No. 4-seed in the regional hosted by the University of Georgia. A&M will play the No. 5-seed Michigan State Spartans on Thursday at 2 p.m. at the Georgia Softball Stadium.
In her eighth season in Aggieland, Texas A&M Head Coach Jo Evans will lead her team to their third consecutive regional and the fifth since she arrived in 1997.
"We are excited," Evans stated. "First of all, it is a thrill to be playing in the NCAA Tournament. We are looking forward to go to Athens. It is a great college town and I think our kids are really going to enjoy the atmosphere."
This will be the 15th regional appearance in the history of the program with the Aggies having advanced to the regional final the past two seasons.
The Washington Huskies were named the 1-seed, in Athens, followed by Georgia, Georgia Tech, A&M, Michigan St., Massachusetts, Eastern Kentucky and Chattanooga.
"We will get the opportunity to play a lot of really good teams out there but I feel really confident in our team and I know that we are going to have a shot to win," Evans stated.
Michigan State is making its second consecutive appearance in the NCAA Regionals after they claimed an automatic berth when they won the Big Ten Tournament title. The Spartans and Aggies have played two times in the past with the Aggies coming out on top in both contests.
"We haven't seen them (Michigan St.) all year. In fact I haven't seen them in a few years," Evans continued. "I know that they sure got on a high because they were seeded eighth in the Big Ten Tournament and they won the thing, so they have to be feeling great about themselves. We are really looking forward to playing them."
The Aggies, who finished second in the Big 12, will take a 32-20 overall record into the tournament while the Spartans will carry a 34-24 mark.
Fans can follow all the regional action by logging onto AggieAthletics.com for live audio and stats.
REGIONAL SCHEDULE (all times Central):
10:00 AM Georgia Tech vs. Massachusetts
12:30 PM Eastern Kentucky vs. Georgia
2:00 PM Texas A&M vs. Michigan State
4:30 PM Chattanooga vs. Washington
The dates, sites and pairings for the entire field of 64 are as follows:
DATES/SITES/PAIRINGS:
Region No. 1 - May 20-23 at Tucson, Arizona
* Indicates host institution
*No. 1 seed Arizona (53-4)
No. 2 seed Oklahoma (39-19-1)
No. 3 seed Northwestern (32-18)
No. 4 seed South Carolina (27-22)
No. 5 seed Louisiana-Lafayette (55-6)
No. 6 seed UC Santa Barbara (32-29)
No. 7 seed Temple (29-16)
No. 8 seed Centenary (Louisiana) (35-28)
Region No. 2 - May 20-23 at Los Angeles
*No. 1 seed UCLA (39-9)
No. 2 seed Alabama (42-18)
No. 3 seed Long Beach State (48-11)
No. 4 seed Louisville (40-17)
No. 5 seed Missouri (27-24)
No. 6 seed Cornell (39-11)
No. 7 seed Central Michigan (32-17)
No. 8 seed Mississippi Valley (31-13)
Region No. 3 - May 20-23 at Waco, Texas
No. 1 seed LSU (50-10)
No. 2 seed Illinois (41-19-1)
*No. 3 seed Baylor (45-14)
No. 4 seed Seton Hall (44-17)
No. 5 seed Houston (38-22)
No. 6 seed North Carolina (43-20)
No. 7 seed Texas-San Antonio (37-15)
No. 8 seed Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (39-19)
Region No. 4 - May 20-23 at Tallahassee, Florida
*No. 1 seed Florida State (40-18)
No. 2 seed Oregon (38-19)
No. 3 seed South Florida (57-12)
No. 4 seed Florida (40-18)
No. 5 seed Cal State Northridge (33-17)
No. 6 seed Ohio State (34-23)
No. 7 seed Bethune-Cookman (44-26)
No. 8 seed Long Island (27-26)
Region No. 5 - May 20-23 at Lincoln, Nebraska
No. 1 seed California (46-11)
* No. 2 seed Nebraska (40-15)
No. 3 seed Florida Atlantic (54-16)
No. 4 seed Mississippi State (38-24)
No. 5 seed Iowa (36-22)
No. 6 seed Creighton (39-15-1)
No. 7 seed Lehigh (40-15-2)
No. 8 seed Maine (27-21)
Region No. 6 - May 20-23 at Ann Arbor, Michigan
*No. 1 seed Michigan (50-10)
No. 2 seed Tennessee (53-14)
No. 3 seed Oregon State (40-26)
No. 4 seed Notre Dame (48-18)
No. 5 seed DePaul (29-29-1)
No. 6 seed Bowling Green (34-28)
No. 7 seed Illinois-Chicago (38-21)
No. 8 seed Canisius (23-28)
Region No. 7 - May 20-23 at Stanford, California
*No. 1 seed Stanford (43-16)
No. 2 seed Auburn (42-15)
No. 3 seed Fresno State (47-18)
No. 4 seed Pacific (California) (34-21)
No. 5 seed Southern Mississippi (32-24)
No. 6 seed Southern Illinois (42-15)
No. 7 seed Hofstra (34-19)
No. 8 seed Utah (23-31)
Region No. 8 - May 20-23 at Athens, Georgia
No. 1 seed Washington (36-17)
*No. 2 seed Georgia (51-14)
No. 3 seed Georgia Tech (45-16)
No. 4 seed Texas A&M (32-20)
No. 5 seed Michigan State (33-23)
No. 6 seed Massachusetts (33-15)
No. 7 seed Eastern Kentucky (41-15)
No. 8 seed Chattanooga (45-23)